About 40 people have been killed in Nigeria’s Yobe state between Monday and Tuesday after purported Boko Haram militants shot at villagers and triggered a land mine, in what has been tagged a major attack on the north-eastern state in 18 months, according to police reports on Wednesday, November 1.
According to Abdulkarim Dungus, the state police spokesperson, the attack had occurred at about 8:30 p.m. (19:30 GMT) on Monday, at Gurokayeya village, located in Gaidam local government area, Yobe State.
Dungus had revealed that the gunmen had began shooting at the villagers, killing about 17 people in the process. On Tuesday, a land mine exploded, killing 20 villagers who were coming back from burying victims of the previous day’s attack.
The Islamist sect has been killing and abducting villagers in Borno state, a breeding ground for militancy that has been the epicentre of a 14-year war on insurgency in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu and his cabinet members had only just approved a $2.8 billion supplementary budget to finance the “pressing issues” including defence and security on Monday, October 30.
Tinubu has still to disclose how he would fight insurgency in the north and the rampant insecurity in other states in the country.
Prior to this attack, the Yobe State community had been living in peace for over a year, according to residents.
